Whispers in the Library
by Anrheithwyr
Summary: While in the library, she has a strange conversation with her cousin, Albus, that involves a lot of staring, and a lot of whispering.


_**Written for the 'If You Dare Challenge' by Slytherin Cat, using prompt # 167, whispered. Expect a lot of whispering from one of the characters. **_

….

It was, Rose Weasley decided, _very _hard to study when someone was staring at you from across the table. Not, of course, that she _minded _the person staring at her, so much as she didn't like the fact that he'd sat down ten minutes ago and not yet said a word; that usually meant she was in trouble, and the possibility of her being in trouble was kind of making her head spin. Therefore, it had become increasingly difficult to concentrate on her Charms essay. Finally, she cracked, looking from her books to her cousin, Albus.

"Did you want something, Al, or is there something on my face that I don't know about?" she asked tartly, but he merely shrugged and kept looking at her. Rose began to wonder if she _did _have something on her face, and rubbed rather profusely, but still, Albus just sat there, looking at her silently. It was like he was thinking rather deeply-something Rose wasn't confident he could do, being a Gryffindor. "Are you just going to keep staring at me like that, or what? This is getting old fast, Al."

He shrugged again, but a grin had slipped onto his face, and he leaned forward, putting his head in his hands. Albus' big green eyes were staring at Rose as if she fascinated him, and he was still grinning like a maniac fresh from his first kill. Rose was beginning to think her cousin had gone off the deep end. (Something she'd suspected before now, but _still_. The boy got weirder every year.) Rose rolled her eyes at him, and moved to gather her books and such, but Albus reached out, grabbing her wrist, his own bright green orbs staring back at her.

"I have to tell you something," he whispered quietly, and Rose instinctively leaned closer, even though she knew Albus' 'good news' was probably something really dumb involving Quidditch or what he'd had for dinner. Albus wasn't an idiot, but he got distracted easily, and didn't seem to quite get the concept of priorities. "It's a secret, so you have to promise not to tell _anyone_." His eyes widened, if possible, even more, and Rose nodded; Albus now looked comically serious, and she had to hold in giggles as he spoke. "Scorpius and I….." Albus was whispering so quietly now, Rose was nearly touching his nose in an effort to hear him. "Scorpius told me he loved me last night."

"Wow." Rose said, pulling away from him. "Wow," she repeated again, not really sure what to say. That was _certainly _more important than Quidditch or food, and she should have seen it coming, really. Merlin, hadn't she been listening to Scorpius talk for weeks about how he thought Albus was attractive. (Rose had been _so _glad when the two of them had finally come out to their parents, so they could officially break up, and see the _right _people.) Really, she'd spent nearly a year listening to Scorpius talk about how Albus was attractive, smart, witty, creative, amusing, and a long list of other thing she had never needed to know about her cousin.

"We're going to go to Hogsmeade together, next trip." Albus whispered, his voice becoming rushed as he spoke, an evident fervor in his voice. "But….we don't want anyone to _know_, just yet, so I was curious if maybe you could cover for us, while we're on our date, because it's meant to be a secret and…." He trailed off into silence, pleading with Rose silently. People had always said Albus was the expressive one in the family, and that it was too easy to read him by looking at his eyes. Rose could see why everyone would say that as she looked at him now; it was obvious he was afraid, desperate, and totally in love.

"Yeah, I can help you, Al. Leave it to me, I'll make sure you two have the best date of your life." Rose promised, though she was already wondering if she was going to _completely _regret this later, when she actually _did _have to make sure no one found out about her cousin and her best mate. It was a hard enough secret, trying to hide from everyone that she and Hannai Jemsen were a bit more intimate than people thought. (Read: closets are _so _the best place to screw around between classes, if a bed isn't handy.) But, she was Al's cousin, and he was a decent bloke.

"Thanks," Albus whispered, grinning at her, before he got up from his chair, slipping out of the library in silence. Rose shook her head in amazement. What had she just gotten herself involved in, and how in the _name of Merlin _was this supposed to work out?


End file.
